Ossian is the storyteller and claimed writer of a series of epic poems published by the Scottish poet James Macpherson. These poems were first released as Fingal (1761) and Temora (1763), and later combined into The Poems of Ossian. Macpherson said he collected stories told orally in Scottish Gaelic, claiming they came from ancient sources, and that he translated them into written form. Ossian is based on Oisín, the son of Fionn mac Cumhaill (also known as Finn McCool), a famous poet in Irish mythology. Some critics at the time questioned whether the work was real, but today most scholars believe Macpherson wrote the poems himself, using some traditional Gaelic poetry he had gathered.

The poems became very popular worldwide, were translated into many European languages, and greatly influenced the Romantic movement and the Gaelic revival. Macpherson was honored by being buried in Westminster Abbey with other famous writers. W. P. Ker, in The Cambridge History of English Literature, noted that Macpherson’s skill in writing was essential to his success, even though he pretended to be a scholar of ancient languages.

Poems

In 1760, Macpherson published an English-language book called Fragments of ancient poetry, collected in the Highlands of Scotland, and translated from the Gaelic or Erse language. Later that year, he said he had found more manuscripts. In 1761, he claimed to have discovered an epic poem about the hero Fingal (with Fingal or Fionnghall meaning "fair stranger," a term related to hair or eye color), written by Ossian. According to Macpherson's introduction, his publisher believed the works would only be popular in English and required them to be translated. Over the next few years, Macpherson published these translations, ending with a complete collection called The Works of Ossian in 1765. The most famous of these poems, Fingal, was written in 1761 and dated 1762.

The poems are translated into poetic prose, using short and simple sentences. The mood is grand and heroic, but there is no single story. The same characters appear in different poems. The main characters include Ossian, who tells the stories when he is old and blind, his father Fingal (based loosely on the Irish hero Fionn mac Cumhaill), his dead son Oscar (who also has an Irish counterpart), and Oscar's lover Malvina (a name made up by Macpherson). Malvina cares for Ossian in his old age. The stories describe endless battles and sad love stories, but the reasons for the conflicts are not explained.

Characters sometimes kill loved ones by mistake and die from grief or happiness. Little is said about the characters' religion, culture, or society, and buildings are rarely mentioned. The landscape is described as more real than the people. It is covered in eternal mist, lit by a weak sun or brief meteors, and appears gray and bleak. Fingal is said to be king of a region in southwest Scotland, possibly similar to the historical kingdom of Dál Riata. The poems seem to take place around the 3rd century, with the "king of the world" possibly referring to the Roman Emperor. Macpherson and his supporters believed the poems mentioned Caracalla (who died in 217, called "Caracul") and Carausius (who died in 293, called "Caros," the "king of ships").

Reception and influence

The poems gained worldwide recognition. Napoleon and Diderot admired them, and Voltaire created humorous imitations. Thomas Jefferson believed Ossian was "the greatest poet that has ever existed" and planned to learn Gaelic to read his works in the original language. The poems were compared to famous Classical writers like Homer. Henry David Thoreau said, "The genuine remains of Ossian … are in many respects of the same stamp as the Iliad." Many writers, such as Walter Scott, were influenced by the poems. Painters and composers also used themes from the poems in their work.

The Hungarian poet Sándor Petőfi wrote a poem titled Homer and Ossian, comparing the two authors. The first line of the poem reads:

Although some questioned whether the poems were truly written by Ossian, the Ossian cycle helped spread knowledge of Celtic mythology across Europe. These poems became one of the earliest and most widely read texts that inspired the growth of romantic nationalism in the following century. European historians agree that the Ossian poems and their portrayal of mythical Scotland encouraged a more thoughtful form of national pride in Europe and helped shape modern European nationalism.

The cycle had less influence in the British Isles. Samuel Johnson criticized it, calling it "another proof of Scotch conspiracy in national falsehood." Some Irish people opposed the use of the Fenian Cycle of Irish mythology in the poems. David Hume later stopped supporting the poems and joked that he would not believe their authenticity even if "fifty bare-armed Highlanders" claimed they were real. By the early 19th century, the cycle played a minor role in Scottish patriotic speeches.

Authenticity debate

There were quick disagreements about Macpherson's claims, both in literature and politics. Macpherson said the poems had Scottish origins, but Irish historians strongly opposed him, believing their heritage was being taken unfairly. However, both Scotland and Ireland shared a common Gaelic culture during the time the poems were written, and some Fenian literature common to both countries was created in Scotland.

Samuel Johnson, an English writer, critic, and biographer, believed Macpherson was dishonest and that the poems were fake. Johnson also said the poems were not well-written. When asked, "Doctor Johnson, do you really think anyone today could write such poetry?" Johnson replied, "Yes. Many men. Many women. And many children." Johnson is also known for calling the story of Ossian "as gross an imposition as ever the world was troubled with." He claimed Gaelic was the language of a simple people and said no Gaelic manuscripts older than 100 years existed. In response, it was shown that the Advocates' Library in Edinburgh had Gaelic manuscripts over 500 years old.

Because Johnson made these comments during the 18th-century golden age of Scottish Gaelic literature, he was quickly criticized in Gaelic satirical poetry. James MacIntyre, a leader in his community near Ben Cruachan, wrote a poem titled "A Song to Dr Johnson" in Gaelic. Raonuill Dubh MacDhòmhnuill, the son of a famous Gaelic poet and a leader in Laig, included MacIntyre's poem in a collection called The Eigg Collection, published in Edinburgh in 1776.

Scottish writer Hugh Blair wrote a 1763 book titled A Critical Dissertation on the Poems of Ossian, supporting the poems' authenticity against Johnson's harsh criticism. This book was included in every edition of Ossian from 1765 to help prove the work was real. The poems also connected with the Romantic movement and the idea of the "noble savage," and they shared themes with Edmund Burke's book A Philosophical Enquiry into the Origin of Our Ideas of the Sublime and Beautiful (1757).

In 1766, Charles O'Conor, an Irish scholar and descendant of Gaelic nobility, questioned the poems' authenticity in a new chapter added to his history book. In 1775, he expanded his criticism in a new book titled Dissertation on the origin and antiquities of the antient Scots.

To settle the debate, the Highland Society Committee investigated the original manuscripts Macpherson claimed to have used. This led to the discovery of the Glenmasan manuscript (Adv. 72.2.3) in the late 18th century. This manuscript includes a story called Oided mac n-Uisnig, which is similar to the Irish tale Longes mac n-Uislenn and shares some ideas with Macpherson's "Darthula," though it differs in many ways. Donald Smith mentioned this in his report for the committee.

The debate continued into the early 19th century, with arguments about whether the poems were based on Irish sources, English sources, Gaelic fragments mixed with Macpherson's own writing, or Scottish Gaelic oral traditions and manuscripts, as Macpherson claimed. In the late 19th century, it was shown that the only "original" Gaelic manuscripts Macpherson provided were actually translations of his English work. At the same time, Peter Hately Waddell defended the poems, arguing in Ossian and the Clyde (1875) that they included details about places Macpherson could not have known.

In 1952, Scottish scholar Derick Thomson studied the sources for Macpherson's work and concluded that Macpherson collected real Scottish Gaelic ballads, using scribes to record oral traditions and combining manuscripts. However, as a pioneer of creating myths, he changed conflicting accounts of the same stories to make a coherent story, altering characters and ideas, and added many of his own.

According to historians Colin Kidd and James Coleman, the poem Fingal (1761, dated 1762) was influenced by traditional Gaelic poetry from the 15th and 16th centuries, as well as Macpherson's own creativity and editing. The second poem, Temora (1763), was mostly Macpherson's own work.

Today, the poems are seen as a classic example of the "found manuscript" literary trope.

Translations and adaptations

One poem was translated into French in 1762; by 1777, the entire collection was translated. In German-speaking areas, Michael Denis completed the first full translation in 1768–1769. This inspired early nationalist poets like Klopstock and Goethe. Goethe’s friend, Johann Gottfried Herder, wrote an essay titled Extract from a Correspondence about Ossian and the Songs of Ancient Peoples in 1773, during the early years of the Sturm und Drang movement.

Complete translations of the poems appeared in Danish in 1790 and in Swedish between 1794 and 1800. In Scandinavia and Germany, people did not understand or pay attention to the Celtic aspects of the stories. Instead, they saw Ossian as a Nordic or Germanic figure who became a symbol of national pride. In 1799, French general Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte named his only son Oscar after a character from Ossian, at the suggestion of Napoleon, the child’s godfather and a fan of Ossian. Bernadotte later became King of Sweden and Norway. In 1844, his son became King Oscar I of Sweden and Norway. Oscar I was followed by his sons, Charles XV and Oscar II (died 1907). The name "Oscar" became popular as a first name, especially in Scandinavia and other European countries.

Melchiore Cesarotti, an Italian clergyman, translated the poems into Italian. Many say his version improved on the original, and he worked hard to promote the poems in Vienna, Warsaw, and Italy. Napoleon admired Cesarotti’s translation, and it influenced Ugo Foscolo, who studied under Cesarotti at the University of Padua.

British composer Harriet Wainwright had her opera Comala, based on Ossian’s texts, performed for the first time in London in 1792.

The first partial translation of Ossian into Polish was made by Ignacy Krasicki in 1793. A complete Polish translation was published in 1838 by Seweryn Goszczyński.

By 1800, Ossian had been translated into Spanish and Russian. Dutch translations followed in 1805, and translations into Polish, Czech, and Hungarian appeared between 1827 and 1833. The poems were widely admired in Hungary, France, and Germany. Hungarian writer János Arany wrote a poem titled Homer and Ossian in response. Other Hungarian writers, including Baróti Szabó, Csokonai, Sándor Kisfaludy, Kazinczy, Kölcsey, Ferenc Toldy, and Ágost Greguss, were also influenced by Ossian’s work.

The opera Ossian, ou Les bardes by Jean-François Le Sueur, which included a famous scene titled Ossian’s Dream, was very popular at the Paris Opera in 1804. This performance helped the composer become famous. The poems also had a big impact on the development of Romantic music. Franz Schubert, in particular, wrote songs based on Ossian’s poems. In 1829, Felix Mendelssohn was inspired to visit the Hebrides and composed the Hebrides Overture, also known as Fingal’s Cave. His friend, Niels Gade, used the same theme in his first published work, the concert overture Efterklange af Ossian ("Echoes of Ossian"), written in 1840.

Gaelic studies

Macpherson's Ossian had a strong influence on Dugald Buchanan (1716–1768), a poet from Perthshire who wrote Spiritual Hymns in Scots Gaelic. These hymns show a high level of quality and reflect the Classical Gaelic language once used by bards in both Ireland and Scotland. Buchanan believed the poems of Ossian were real and wanted to honor the traditions and culture of the Gaels. Around the same time, he wrote to Sir James Clerk of Penicuik, a leading expert on old traditions, suggesting that someone should travel to the islands and western coasts of Scotland to collect the works of ancient and modern bards. He believed these works were the only place where the language could be found in its original form.

Later, in the 19th and 20th centuries, people like Alexander Carmichael and Lady Evelyn Stewart Murray took on this task. Their work, along with the efforts of the School of Scottish Studies and the Scottish Gaelic Texts Society, helped preserve and continue the collection of Gaelic writings.

In art

Subjects from the Ossian poems were popular in the art of northern Europe, but at different times in different countries. When French artists began to paint scenes from Ossian, British artists had mostly stopped doing so. Ossian was especially popular in Danish art, but also appeared in Germany and other parts of Scandinavia.

British artists started showing Ossian in their work early. The first major example was a set of paintings on the ceiling of the "Grand Hall" in Penicuik House in Midlothian, Scotland. The house was built by Sir James Clerk, who asked the Scottish painter Alexander Runciman to create the paintings in 1772. These paintings were lost when the house burned down in 1899, but some drawings and etchings of them remain. Two pamphlets describing the paintings were published in the 1700s. In 1773, a painting based on Ossian by Angelica Kauffman was displayed at the Royal Academy Exhibition. Ossian also appeared in a painting called Elysium, part of a large artwork by the Irish painter James Barry, which decorated the Royal Society of Arts in London. This artwork is still in its original location.

Works on paper by Thomas Girtin and John Sell Cotman have survived. However, Ossianic landscapes painted by George Augustus Wallis, which were praised by the Ossian fan August Wilhelm Schlegel in a letter to Goethe, seem to have been lost. A painting by J. M. W. Turner about Ossian was shown in 1802 but is also lost. Henry Singleton painted scenes from Ossian, and some of his paintings were engraved and used in editions of the poems.

A short piece written by Novalis in 1789 called Ossian an "inspired, holy, and poetical singer."

The Danish painter Nicolai Abildgaard, who led the Copenhagen Academy from 1789, painted several scenes from Ossian, as did his students, including Asmus Jacob Carstens. His friend Joseph Anton Koch painted many subjects from Ossian and created two large series of illustrations for the poems, though they were never printed properly. Many of these works, like those by Wallis, Carstens, Krafft, and others, were painted in Rome, which may not have been the best place to capture the dim northern light described in the poems. In Germany, a request in 1804 to create drawings for the poems inspired Philipp Otto Runge to plan a series of 100 illustrations, far more than asked for. These were only made as drawings and never printed. Many other German artworks based on Ossian were created, some as late as the 1840s. News about British doubts about the authenticity of the Ossian poems reached the continent slowly or was ignored.

In France, the enthusiasm of Napoleon for the Ossian poems led to many artistic depictions, especially by famous artists. A painting by Paul Duqueylar, shown in the Paris Salon of 1800, inspired a group of artists called Les Barbus ("the Bearded Ones"), who promoted art styles inspired by "early civilizations" described in Homer, Ossian, and the Bible. One artist, Pierre-Maurice Quays, said: "Homer? Ossian? … the sun? the moon? That's the question. Truthfully, I think I prefer the moon. It's more simple, more grand, more primitive."

In 1800, Napoleon planned to renovate the Château de Malmaison as a summer palace. Though he did not ask his painters to focus on Ossianic themes, two large paintings were created for the reception hall. These were painted by Girodet (Ossian receiving the Ghosts of the French Heroes, 1801–02) and François Pascal Simon Gérard (Ossian Evoking ghosts on the Edge of the Lora, 1801). Gérard’s original painting was lost in a shipwreck, but three copies remain. One is now at Malmaison, and another is in Hamburg. A watercolor copy by Jean-Baptiste Isabey was used as a frontispiece in Napoleon’s copy of the poems.

Duqueylar, Girodet, and Gérard, like Johann Peter Krafft and most of the Barbus, were students of Jacques-Louis David. The unusual subjects from the Ossian poems helped French Romantic painting develop, which was a movement that challenged David’s Neoclassical style. David reportedly disliked Girodet’s work, saying: "Either Girodet is mad or I no longer know anything of the art of painting."

Girodet’s painting (Ossian receiving the Ghosts of the French Heroes) caused controversy when it was first shown in 1802 and is considered an important example of French Romantic art. However, the political messages Girodet intended were not widely understood by the public, as the Peace of Amiens with Britain was signed in 1802, ending the conflict that inspired the painting. Girodet also painted Malvina dying in the arms of Fingal around 1802.

Another student of David, Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres, painted scenes from Ossian throughout his career. He created a drawing in 1809 while studying in Rome and was commissioned to paint two works, The Dream of Ossian and a classical scene, for Napoleon’s bedroom in the Palazzo Quirinale in Rome. However, Napoleon never visited Rome, and Ingres later repurchased the painting, which is now in poor condition.

In 1880, the American painter Wilbur Winfield Woodward, who lived in Paris, exhibited a painting based on Ossian at the Salon.

Editions

The National Library of Scotland holds 327 books and related materials in its Ossian Collection. The collection was first gathered by J. Norman Methven of Perth and includes various editions and translations of James Macpherson's epic poem Ossian, some of which feature a map of the "Kingdom of Connor." It also contains materials that discuss Ossianic poetry and the Ossian controversy. More than 200 items from the collection have been made available online.

Other online editions and recent works include:

• 1760: Fragments of Ancient Poetry Collected in the Highlands of Scotland, Second Edition (Edinburgh).
• 1803: The Poems of Ossian in Two Volumes, an Illustrated Edition (Vol. I and Vol. II) (London: Lackington, Allen and Co.).
• 1887: Poems of Ossian: Literally Translated from the Gaelic, in the Original Measure of Verse by Peter McNaughton (Edinburgh: William Blackwood and Sons).
• 1888: Poems of Ossian Translated by James Macpherson, a Pocket Reprint of the 1773 Edition (Omitting the Last Four Poems) (London: Walter Scott).
• 1996: The Poems of Ossian and Related Works, edited by Howard Gaskill, with an Introduction by Fiona Stafford (Edinburgh University Press).
• 2004: Ossian and Ossianism by Dafydd Moore, a Four-Volume Edition of Ossianic Works and a Collection of Varied Responses (London: Routledge). This includes facsimiles of the Ossian works, contemporary and later responses, contextual letters and reviews, and later adaptations.
• 2011: Blind Ossian's Fingal: Fragments and Controversy, a Reprint of the First Edition and Abridgement of the Follow-Up with New Material by Allan and Linda Burnett (Edinburgh: Luath Press Ltd).
• 2021: Ossian: Warrior Poet, an Edited and Illustrated Edition of the Poems with a New Introduction and Index by Scottish Artist Eileen Budd (Windermere: Wide Open Sea Press).